In his performing style, Jarosław Bester combines his experience in classical, klezmer, jazz and folk music to develop his own interpretation style and to create a powerful mix of technique, sensibility and creativity rarely achieved on the accordion. Because of this unique style, developed over the course of more than 30 years of performing, he is considered today one of the most original accordion interpreters worldwide. (see 2/24/2019 calendar entry for more information about the artist and location)

4 pm on February 24, 2019 ....... Murphy Hall, UW School of Music

ATOM STRING QUARTET

POLAND'S JAZZ FUSIONALL ACOUSTIC SENSATION

Atom String Quartet is one of the most intriguing string quartets in the world, and also one of best Polish jazz bands. The group combines the capabilities of a classic string quartet (i.e. two violins, viola and cello) with strong improvisational skills in the jazz idiom, which in turn allows them to develop their distinctive new sound and establish their own original style. Their style, strongly based in jazz, also includes Polish folk, music of various regions of the world, as well as contemporary and classical music. (see the 3/3/2019 calendar entry for extensive information about the band and location details)

6 pm on March 3, 2019 ....... Music Hall at 925 Bascom Mall

SZOPKA KRAKOWSKA:The Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

Just on time for Christmas celebrations in the Jubilee Year of Poland's Independence, great news arrived from UNESCO about the inscription of "Szopka Krakowska" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This is the first entry from Poland on the list that was established in 2008 and currently contains 580 entries from 122 countries. Its aim is to identify and help to preserve diverse forms of expression, practices and skills reflecting human creativity, cultural identity, and serving as "unique testimony of living cultural tradition."

Szopka krakowska rates high on all of these criteria. Blending history, modernity and legend with remarkable skills and imagination, it is a unique form of folk art with the engaging message and artistic authenticity. In recognition of these qualities, the art of "szopka krakowska" making was placed on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2014.

Szopka krakowska in the Madison's Polish Heritage Club. Constructed in the early 1980s, it was recently renovated by Gloria Welniak in consultation with several PHC members.

In Polish, the word "szopka" (plural "szopki") refers to the nativity scenes (szopki bożonarodzeniowe) adorning Polish churches at Christmas time. Called also mangers, cribs or crèches, they became popular after St. Francis of Assisi created the first manger in Greccio, Italy (1223) and Franciscans brought the idea to Poland just a few years later. The Krakovian szopka emerged from this tradition in the early XIX century due to winter shortages of jobs for stone masons, brick-layers, tilers and carpenters.

To make money during seasonal slowdowns, the industrious construction workers turned to building the miniature copies of church mangers and using them as backdrops for kolędowanie (a custom involving groups of door-to-door carolers in ritual costumes collecting donations for their singing) or staging the nativity plays (called jasełka in Polish) performed on the streets or in the houses of wealthier folks. The doll-like figurines gradually replaced amateur actors and/or puppets starring in those spectacles. That’s how a new form of folk art took life on its own outside of the church setting.

To attract attention of spectators and potential hirers, the szopka makers were forced to innovate – and they did so by turning to flashy materials, incorporating the elements of Kraków’s architecture and/or reflections of its legends, history and political/social life. In what became its most distinctive trait, the Kraków crèche took a shape of an urban structure fusing elements of the city’s most famous buildings (e.g. the Wawel Castle, Sigismund’s Chapel, Sukiennice, the Barbican, or St. Florian Gate) crowned with the Town Hall Tower or towers of St. Mary’s Basilica and other churches. They also became exquisitely ornate and sparklingly colorful – the effect achieved with the extensive use of cellophane, tinfoil, tissue paper, beads and small pieces of plastic or glass.

The amount of work that goes into creating those marvels of folk art is truly mind boggling. An average szopka maker spends on his/her hobby about 2,000 hours per year (5 hours a day) and larger structures, which can reach the heights well in excess of 10 feet, take over 10,000 hours to complete. As such workload is unfeasible for many individuals, some crèches are created as group efforts involving family members and/or circles of friends or classmates. But whether solo or in a group, it is clearly a labor of love as many szopka makers indulge it since childhood into their senior years. And for all those dedicated folk artists, there is no greater joy than scoring a win in the annual competition for the most beautiful szopka.